West Islander promotes Free Comic Book Day

Pierrefonds resident and comic book store owner Sylvain Lamy is having a marvelous team-up of his own with local libraries as he prepares for the sixth annual Free Comic Book Day at Cosmix, which he co-owns with his brother, on Decarie Boulevard in St. Laurent next Saturday.

"Everyone (who walks into the store) is entitled to four free comic books," Lamy explained.

A North America-wide retail event cooked up by comic book publishers, distributors and retailers to open up interest in the art form beyond its steady but small number of aficionados, the day always falls on the first Saturday of May.

According to Lamy, this usually helps push customers in, since at least one blockbuster late spring/early summer movie based on a comic book property will have been released by the time the day rolls around. "In 2002, (the first year), it was Spider-Man," he recalled.

This year, May 2 arrives a day after "X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine" hits theatres.

In promoting the event, Lamy has also approached local libraries, including Dollard des Ormeaux and Beaconsfield, where he has handed a promotional poster and also plans to donate up to six graphic novels or trade paperbacks.

Both libraries have a significant comic book component, according to their head librarians.

"We have a special area in the childrens' section that has comic books that are appropriate for them," said Lise Brosseau at Dollard des Ormeaux. She said the adult section of the library had an expanding comic book and graphic novel section as well.

Brosseau pegged the total number of comic book titles in both sections as between 3 to 4,000.

Over at Beaconsfield, Beverley Gilbertson said the French collection has a slightly larger comic book section. "It's always been more popular in French," she said, but she added English collections have grown lately-both for children and adults.

For Lamy, a large part of Free Comic Book Day is simply the importance of getting kids to read again. "The average of our (own store's) clientele is maybe a little older than that of other stores," Lamy said, estimating it as 25 to 40.

However, he said, children simply do not read as much as they used to.

Another of the day's goals is to introduce those who walk in to comics or graphic novels (thicker books that either stand alone or collect individual, 22-page editions) that do not necessarily follow the adventures of superheroes.

"There is so much more," Lamy said. "We have titles like Waltz with Bashir, or Persepolis," he explained. Each of those biographical works deal with real-life circumstances in the war-torn Middle East.

This variety is well-reflected in the titles that will be up for grabs on Free Comic Book Day. The standard superhero titles, Green Lantern or the Avengers, will be there of course, but so will titles such as FCHS, a comedic look at current high school life, or a comic book adaptation of Pixar's Cars movie from a few years ago.

Lamy will also have Free Comic Book Day coincide with his own store's 25th anniversary sale.

For more information on Cosmix, head to www.cosmix.ca.

Chronicle, Jacques Pharand